SO, Stuart McCall is the new Rangers' manager - at least until the end of the season. Well, I never saw that one coming!!!
McCall was always one of the favourites for this particular gig. His appointment at least eases Kenny McDowall's obvious pain. "Koj" has done a job he never sought, or even wanted, to the best of his ability - but, it simply wasn't working.
It is understood that McCall will be bringing Kenny Black to Ibrox with him as Assistant Manager. "Gentile", as he was known in his Ibrox days, will be another good appointment, but, I do hope Rangers can keep McDowall at the club in a role where he is far more comfortable and more-effective than he could ever be as manager, and send him back to Youth Development.
"Koj" is one of those guys who is a much-better backroom man than a manager. However, it is to be hoped the new regime will be a bit more encouraging of youth than has been the case at Rangers over the past 30-years.
Prior to the Souness revolution, Rangers - while they had always been a buying club - did have a functioning youth development culture. Take arguably the best Rangers team of the post-World War II to the Souness Revolution era, the Treble-winning 1964 squad: Ritchie, Shearer, Caldow, Greig, McKinnon, Baxter, Henderson, McMillan, Millar, Brand and Wilson. Only Bobby Shearer, the sublime Jim Bater, "the Wee Prime Minister", Ian McMillan and Jimmy Millar were bought-in, the other seven were home-grown.
The club has also never been slow to cherry-pick the best of the other Scottish clubs: such Rangers icons as Alan Morton, Bob McPhail, Jock "Tiger" Shaw, the afore-mentioned Baxter, Colin Stein and Davie Cooper were plucked from lesser Scottish sides. Celtic too, were never slow to take-on players who had caught the eye with the lesser lights.
Rangers also, used to have a penchant for professionalising the best products of Queen's Park - think of the likes of Bobby Brown, Ian McColl and Willie Woodburn from the Treble-winning "Iron Curtain" side of 1949.
Of course, with the greater riches on-offer in England today; there is not the same cachet about singing for Rangers, although "Rangers-daft" young players will still take the plunge. In fact it may be that, if and when Rangers get back to offering a genuine challenge to Celtic domestically, and even begin to make the knock-out stages of the Champions' League, they may become a selling club.
However, I hope the new regime manages to avoid the pit-falls of continuing down the "spend, spend, spend" route, perhaps in a rush for the instant gratification of a return to the top-flight, and, perhaps begin a bit of grass-roots development.
Some of "Ra Peepul" will not like it. They feel their club has an entitlement to be at the top in Scotland. Perhaps a longer, slower retrenchment is the safer option.
Of course, how the club moves forward under the new regime depends to a great extent on what they find when Mr King and his court open the books. What they find therein will determine how the club gets back to the top.
I can see some unpleasant skeletons emerging in the weeks ahead.
Prior to the Souness revolution, Rangers - while they had always been a buying club - did have a functioning youth development culture. Take arguably the best Rangers team of the post-World War II to the Souness Revolution era, the Treble-winning 1964 squad: Ritchie, Shearer, Caldow, Greig, McKinnon, Baxter, Henderson, McMillan, Millar, Brand and Wilson. Only Bobby Shearer, the sublime Jim Bater, "the Wee Prime Minister", Ian McMillan and Jimmy Millar were bought-in, the other seven were home-grown.
The club has also never been slow to cherry-pick the best of the other Scottish clubs: such Rangers icons as Alan Morton, Bob McPhail, Jock "Tiger" Shaw, the afore-mentioned Baxter, Colin Stein and Davie Cooper were plucked from lesser Scottish sides. Celtic too, were never slow to take-on players who had caught the eye with the lesser lights.
Rangers also, used to have a penchant for professionalising the best products of Queen's Park - think of the likes of Bobby Brown, Ian McColl and Willie Woodburn from the Treble-winning "Iron Curtain" side of 1949.
Of course, with the greater riches on-offer in England today; there is not the same cachet about singing for Rangers, although "Rangers-daft" young players will still take the plunge. In fact it may be that, if and when Rangers get back to offering a genuine challenge to Celtic domestically, and even begin to make the knock-out stages of the Champions' League, they may become a selling club.
However, I hope the new regime manages to avoid the pit-falls of continuing down the "spend, spend, spend" route, perhaps in a rush for the instant gratification of a return to the top-flight, and, perhaps begin a bit of grass-roots development.
Some of "Ra Peepul" will not like it. They feel their club has an entitlement to be at the top in Scotland. Perhaps a longer, slower retrenchment is the safer option.
Of course, how the club moves forward under the new regime depends to a great extent on what they find when Mr King and his court open the books. What they find therein will determine how the club gets back to the top.
I can see some unpleasant skeletons emerging in the weeks ahead.
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